Control mechanism for ironers



' FIG].

Sept. 22, 1936. R. D. QUINN ET AL CONTROL MECHANISM FOR IRONERS Filed Nov. 19, 1934 INVENTORS ATTORN 7 Patented Sept. 22, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT I'OFVFICE 2,054,946 CONTROL MECHANISM roe mom-ms Robert D. and

Binghamton, N.

Charles E. Morgenstern, assignors to Nineteen Hundred Corporation, Binghamton, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application November 19, 1934, Serial No. 753,582

Claims.

. operation of the roll and the movements of the shoe may be controlled by the knee of the operator, or other portion of the body, at a time when the hands are occupied with the goods being ironed.

A feature of the invention is in the provision of an adjustable element for engagement by'the knee, this being readily shiftable to any position desired to suit the requirements of the person operating the machine at any particular This is especially important whenevertime. the machine is to be operated from time to time by persons of different stature.

-Another feature is the construction and arrangement of the knee controlelement in such a way that itcan be readily shifted from its operative position to a concealed, inoperative position. This not only avoids accidental misoperation of the machine at times when the knee control is not desired, but it enhances the appearance of the machine by the temporary removal from view of a depending, unsightly control member.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from a detailed description of an illustrative embodiment of the same, which will now be given in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the upper portion of an ironing machine embodying the invention, a portion of the casing being broken away to disclose more clearly a part of the control mechanism.

Figure 2 is a detail View illustrating the control mechanism in front elevation.

Figure 3 is a further enlarged view in section through a knee-operated element, showing its mounting with relation to other elements, and Figure 4 is a sectional view along the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Referring now to the drawing, the invention is shown applied to a domestic ironing machine of conventional construction. comprises a supporting structure I0 having mounted thereon at one end a casing II enclosing certain driving connections for rotating a roller I2 and for shifting a shoe I3 toward and from the roller. For this purpose the shoe may be carried by a rock arm I4 operated by suitable cam or eccentric means within the casing II. A shaft I5 extending through the forward This machine face of the casing is arranged to control suitable clutch mechanism for coupling the shoe shifting means with the main driving shaft to carry the shoe either toward or from the roller. .This same shaft may control the operation of the roller, either directly or indirectly through the operation of the shoe-shifting means. The mechanism by which the shaft I5 controls the operation of the machine in this way is well .known and therefore need not be disclosed herein in detail. Ordinarily the shaft I5 will be provided with a lever outside of the casing for manual control of the machine.

Within the casing there is secured to the shaft I5 an arm I6 arranged to .be engaged by the upper end of a lever I'l pivoted at I8 to some fixed member within the casing. To the lower end of the lever I1 there is connected a rod I9 which extends beneath the top of the main support substantially the full length of the machine. This rod is supported by means .of a

strap or bearing element 20 at one point and by be limited in any suitable way, as by means of the engagement of a pin,,carried by the rod, with the-bracket- 2|, as shown in Fig. 2. Rod I9 is preferably round in cross section, for reasons which will become apparent hereinafter.

An element 24 is mounted on the rod P9 and depends to a point in line with the knee of an operator using the machine. This element is provided with an aperture 25, adjacent its upper end, through which the rod I9 is passed. The aperture is of slightly greater diameter than the rod so that normally the element is quite free to be shifted longitudinally of the rod. A spring 25, secured at one end to the element and at its other end arranged to engage the under side of the rod I9, serves to tilt the element into the position shown so that a portion of the edge of the aperture engages the upper side of the rod at a point indicated at 21, in Fig. 3, while another portion of the edge engages the under side of the rod at a point indicated at 28. In this way there is provided a friction connection between the element and rod by which pressure exerted against the element by the knee of the cause it to shift against the action of spring 22.

bythe action of the rod l9.

When the rod is shifted toward the left in this way, the lever 11 will be rocked and by engagement with the arm I6, will rock the shaft l5. This, as explained, will trip suitable devices for causing shoe l3 to move either toward or away from the roller.

Should it be desired to shift the element 2440 a different position along the rod I9, this may may differ materially from time to time as a particular machine is operated by different individuals. The present construction enables quick and simple adjustment for this purpose.

The upper end of the element 24 is provided with a flat surface 29 (Fig. 4) arranged to cooperate with the under surface of the top 30 of the supporting structure of the machine. The construction is such that the surface 29 is held in engagement with the under surface of top 311 The latter, it will be understood, has a certain amount of resilience and is free to yield downwardly. to a certain extent between the bearing points 20 and 2|. Betweenthe surface 29 and a surface 3| at one side of the element 24 there is provided a well-rounded surface 32. This construction permits the element 24 to be swung from the fullline position shown in Fig. 4 to theposition indicated by the dot and dash lines. In swinging the element in this way the rod [9 will becammed downwardly slightly as the rounded surface 32 is carried into contact with the top 30. As stated, the resilience of the rod is such as to permit this flexure. When the surface 32 passes beyond the point directly over the rod IS, the bending force on the latter will be relieved and the rod will again straighten into its normal position. Due to the resilience of the rod it will have a tendency to snap the element 24 into the dot and dash position as soon as the surface 32 passes beyond the point-mentioned. When in the dot and dash position the element 24 is concealed and out of the path of the knee of the operator of the machine. Whenever it is desired to again employ the knee control, the element may simply be swung back into the full-line position shown, into which it is snapped as the surface 32 is returned beyond the point directly over rod l9 and in which it is again held by the resilience of the rod.

While a preferred form of the invention has been described in considerable detail, it will be understood that numerous changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. As stated, it is preferable to form the rod IQ of round stock to enable the element 24 'to be rocked into the concealed position in the manner explained. However, this is not essential as the rocking movement may be provided in other ways and the advantages of adjustment may be derived without permitting the operating-element to be shifted into a concealed position. 7

What we claim is:

1. In a machine of the class described, means having a plurality of predetermined definite positions for controlling the operation of the machine and means for operating said controlling means comprising a horizontally disposed rod connected with said controlling means, an element mounted on said rod and depending therefrom, said element having an aperture slightly larger than the cross section of said rod for receiving the latter, and spring means co-acting between said element and rod for tilting said element relative to the rod to establish a frictional grip between them.

2. In a machine of the class described, means for controlling the operation of the machine, and means for operating said controlling means comprising a rod connected with said controlling means; an element mounted on said rod, said element having an aperture adjacent one end slightly largerthan the cross section of said rod for receiving the latter, and spring means for tilting said element relative to the rod to cause the element to grip the rod, saidelement being rockable about the axis of the rod to shift it from operative position to a concealed position.

3. In a machine of the class described, means for controlling the' operation of" the machine,

nected with said controlling means, an element depending from said rod, said element having an aperture slightly larger than the cross section of said rod for receiving the latter, and spring means for tilting said element relative to the rod to cause the element to grip therod, said element being rockable about the axis of the rod to throw it out of operation. 7

4. In a machine of the class described, a supporting frame, means for controlling the operation of the machine, a rod slidably mounted on said frame, means connecting said rod with said controlling means for operating the latter upon sliding said rod, and means frictionally engaging said rod for operating the latter, said last mentioned means comprising an apertured arm depending from said rod and spring means for tilting the arm into frictional engagement with said rod, said arm having a portion disposed for operation by the knee of an operator.

5. In a machine of the class described, a supporting frame, means for controlling the operation of the machine, a yieldable rod slidably mounted on said frame, means connecting said rod with said controlling means for operating the latter upon sliding said rod, and an element carried by said rod engageable by a portion of the body for operating the rod, said element being shiftable either to an operative position or to a non-operative position and. cooperating between said rod and said frame to yieldingly hold the element in either position.

ROBERT D. QUINN. CHARLES E. MORGENSTERN. 

